There Is Only One Sinnacle

A year ago around this time a tug of war started to brew between Brazil and Italy over the services of Amauri. Fast forward a year if you are Dunga do you just come right out and say “forget it you can have him Italy.” Amauri does deserve respect as he made himself into a star player through hard work. It’s not like he was ever tagged for greatness til his Palermo days. With this being said he isn’t in the same class of player who should wear the yellow jersey of Brazil.

Amauri performances for Juventus have been much like the team themselves. Good at times but rarely great. In thirteen Serie A games this year Amauri has only scored twice. Granted he did have three goals in three games in the Champions League but Juventus got knocked out in the group stage. A lot of good those goals did in the big picture.

To be fair, it’s unfair to call his 22 million euro move two summers ago a bust but if you were to ask any high ranking Juve who isn’t in jail if they would take their 22 million back for Amauri, privately I’d be certain they would highly consider it. What shouldn’t be a consideration however is Dunga drafting Amauri into the Brazil squad next summer.

Landon Donovan must be feeling better after his penalty miss in the MLS Cup final. Not only did he sign a new four year deal worth close to nine million but Donovan gets another kick at European football, this time trying his luck with Everton after failed stints previously in German football.

This is the part I can’t get excited about, which is why I waited a couple of days to post this. It’s hard to make an impression when you are on loan for only three months. Even with Everton struggles and injuries David Moyes will be hard pressed to throw Donovan into anything more than the spot start or appearance off the bench. After all Donovan won’t even see the season out as it’s back to Hollywood come March. Unless Tim Cahill goes down with another injury just don’t see Donovan making a big splash in English football.

Barcelona have stated they will “fight” to sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas next season and are ready to bid £40m for him. Full story: The Sun

No offense to Fabregas but does he even fit this Barcelona team? You know with Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta at best he’d be a holding midfielder.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is set to make a £6m bid for Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa, and will raise the funds by selling Gareth Bale. Daily Mirror

If your Wigan I’d say save the 6 million just give me Gareth Bale straight up for Figueroa. Before his wonder goal few when knew who Figueroa was now everyone is throwing millions at him.

Everton are weighing up a cut-price deal for Atletico Madrid midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. Daily Mirror

Everton do have previous experiences with Atletico Madrid in scooping up John Heitinga right before the summer transfer window froze.

Bolton boss Gary Megson is still unsure whether to pay £1.4m to make Ivan Klasnic’s loan move from Nantes a permanent deal. Full story: Daily Mirror

In this day and age £1.4m is nothing for a striker who is playing and chipping in a few goals.

Hull boss Phil Brown has been told to slash £6m of the club’s wage bill be selling players during the January transfer window.
Full story: The Sun

Don’t see many teams looking to pick off whatever meat is on Hull’s bone when it comes to players.

Alex McLeish has told Birmingham owner Carson Yeung that signing “galaticos” next month could wreck City’s brilliant form.
Full story: Daily Mirror

McLeish is right in the fact bringing in new players will dispute the good thing they have going to for in the locker room. McLeish should also say no “Galaticos” would ever join Birmingham at this point anyway.

Wolves fans who travelled to see their weakened side lose at Manchester United on Tuesday have bombarded the club with demands for their money back. Daily Mirror

Been meaning to touch upon this. Quite simply Mick McCarthy is a fool here and should know better. It sends an awful message to his players waving the white flag against Manchester United. I understand why he did so his first team can rest heading into the all important six pointer against Burnley. The problem is instead of focusing on Sunday’s match everyone has to answer questions about McCarthy’s action on Tuesday. They better get a result on the weekend is all I’m saying.

Manchester United are keen on Serbian defender Uros Cosic, who is tipped by his club CSKA Moscow as a potentially bigger talent than Nemanja Vidic. Daily Mirror

CSKA Moscow better be smart enough to ask for payment up front and risk looking foolish as Partizan Belgrade did when Adem Ljajic was returned to them.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is planning a January bid for Wigan’s £4m-rated defender Maynor Figueroa, who scored a stunning long-range goal against Stoke at the weekend. The Sun

If I was Figueroa I wouldn’t leave on principal. Figueroa should be asking Bruce why he didn’t buy him during the summer while he was taking former Wigan player Lee Cattermole with him to Sunderland.

Arsenal are concerned that defender Mikael Silvestre could leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Is this a real worry for Arsenal? Silvestre is right about the age where Wenger starts to throw a player overboard.

Aston Villa’s Spanish defender Carlos Cueller has attracted the interest of Real Madrid. Daily Mirror

Have a feeling Carlos Cueller has a spring in his step after reading this news.

A ruling family from the United Arab Emirates want talks with Liverpool’s owners to discuss possible investments.
Full story: Daily Mirror

And Liverpool’s co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are closing in on a deal that will see them sell a share in the club to a new investor for around £124m. Daily Telegraph

Anyone who invests in Liverpool while still keeping Gillett and Hicks with a majority share is foolishly. Liverpool wouldn’t need outside investment to begin with if Gillett and Hicks didn’t over leverage themselves trying to buy the club.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits his half-time rant during the game against Liverpool was a risk, and says football management is like “living on a volcano”. He said: “I was many times very angry but sometimes you’re angry but do not show it. The problem with anger, you can create some damage that you cannot repair.” Daily Telegraph

Good job there at halftime Wenger. Don’t blow it against Burnley.

NYON, Swizterland–UEFA has suspended a top referee while it investigates him for allegedly helping to fix a recent Canada-Macedonia international friendly in a betting coup.

Anton Genov awarded four penalties, two to each side, during Macedonia’s 3-0 victory in Skopje.

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You know the referee wanted the over to hit judging by the scoreline. My favorite part of this story is the fact Anton Genov gave four penalties in this match and each time a penalty was given to Canada they missed. How do you react as a ref who is trying to rig a game? Do you chew out Hume and Jackson for missing or just shake your head in disbelief over your luck in such a spot. Thankfully for Genov, Macedonia’s Goran Pandev had no problem converting his two penalties.

Chelsea are planning a January move for West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green as manager Carlo Ancelotti has lost patience with Petr Cech. Daily Express

The Daily Express should of also mentioned what teams would be interested in Petr Cech since it would cause a distraction to have Cech be the number two all year. Of course I don’t think any of this will happen but be it Stephen Hunt cracking his skill or his Euro 2008 meltdown Petr Cech just hasn’t been the same goalie for awhile now.

Tottenham winger David Bentley, who was left out of the squad that played Wolves at the weekend, wants Spurs to let him leave in the January transfer window. The Mirror

It has little to do with Spurs letting Bentley as I’m sure they would love to get rid of him but teams aren’t exactly rushing out to buy Bentley even at a steep discount from what Tottenham foolishly paid to Blackburn.

Arsenal and Manchester United have been warned off signing Standard Liege’s £15m midfielder Steven Defour in January, although the player’s agent says he would be interested in coming to England. The Sun

Defour is one of the better players certainly not playing in a top league and you know Standard is not going to sell him for anything less than they sold Marouane Fellaini so £15m will only get them to consider it. Arsenal needs a striker however, they have plenty of midfielders who can pull the strings offensively.

Real Madrid want to sign Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho and could use striker Ruud van Nistelrooy as bait. (Daily Star)

Don’t see Chelsea biting on that one.

Manchester United have been linked with moves for AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Cardiff defender Adam Matthews.
Full story: Daily Mail

United could of made a run for Huntelaar last winter and again in the summer when Real Madrid where shopping him. With Manchester United passing on him twice already don’t see them changing their minds now.

Juventus Midfielder Felipe Melo Wins 2009 Golden Bin

The Brazilian has narrowly edged out last year’s winner Ricardo Quaresma to claim the not-so-coveted ‘Bidone d’Oro’.

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A couple of weeks ago mentioned the finalist for the Golden Bin award, well now the results are in with Felipe Melo taking home the “honour.” Mentioned at the time Klaas Jan Huntelaar being a lock for the award but since then he has chipped in a few goals and A.C Milan last weekend not withstanding has been winning. Felipe Melo like a late charging Thoroughbred overtakes to the field to win it at the wire.

Full Results:

1. Felipe Melo (Juventus) – 22,87 % [4.289 votes]
2. Ricardo Quaresma (Inter) – 20,63 % [3.868]
3. Tiago Mendes (Juventus) – 9,99 % [1.873]
4. Dida (Milan) – 9,56 % [1.792]
5. Amantino Mancini (Inter) – 9,39 % [1.760]
6. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Milan) – 6,84 % [1.283]
7. Ronaldinho (Milan) – 6,07 % [1.139]
8. Christian Poulsen (Juventus) – 6,06 % [1.137]
9. Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio) – 4,37 % [819]
10. Julio Baptista (Roma) – 4,22 % [792]

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is hoping to sign Brazilian striker Adriano on the cheap in January in a bid to help lead his team away from the relegation zone. The Sun

Zola should be happy if he is still around in January. Even with Adriano wanting to make a case for next summers World Cup it’s highly unlikely he’d chose West Ham as the club to lift him into the Brazilian setup.

Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen has his heart set on a January move to Scottish Premier League side Celtic as he is desperate to play in the Champions League. Daily Mail

Pedersen never seemed the type of player who Sam Allardyce likes to feature to begin with. If Celtic came calling I’m sure Big Sam would sell him at the right price.

Manchester United owners the Glazers have issued a firm “not for sale” response to claims a Bangkok-based Chinese consortium were preparing a £1bn takeover bid. Daily Star

Why would they sell the club? Yes I know they have huge debts against the club but it’s still a money making machine.

Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto must offer an apology to the club and its supporters if he hopes to play for the Londoners again following an angry confrontation with a fan during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves. The Sun

Doubtful it will be enough as Assou-Ekotto should face some type of punish to his bust up with a fan.

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has revealed how he flouted England coach Fabio Capello’s strict dietary rules by sneaking a bottle of tomato ketchup into the national side’s training camps. “Fabio is a disciplinarian. You need to live by his rules or you will not be involved. But I didn’t know how strict the diet was. I was dying and needed something on my pasta.” The Sun

Simply can’t respect anyone who puts ketchup on pasta.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo: The Fastest In Football – German Study

According to the study, Ronaldo supercedes Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben (32.9 kph), Arsenal’s Theo Walcott (32.7 kph), Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (32.6 kph) and Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie (32.1 kph). Barcelona’s Balon d’Or winner Lionel Messi did not rate amongst the top five fastest players.

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Been meaning to touch on this story for a day or two now. None of the names of this list surprises me. What I would love to know is, who’s the slowest player in world football? This is a list I’d want to see. I remember playing Football Manager 2007 and as I liked the challenge wanted to start off as Ipswich where they had current CBC pundit Jason De Vos with a rating of 2 for speed. To make matters worst as he was on a 10k a week contract you couldn’t get rid of him so he rotted away on the reserves for two years til he retired in the game. Much like real life oddly enough.

- No Federico Macheda no chance for Manchester United against Aston Villa it seems. Yesterday game was one of those games which must frustrate managers. It isn’t like United played badly but couldn’t pull it all together when they had their chances.

- It’s still way too early to know how this season will break down but if Manchester United keep trailing Chelsea you know they are going to rue missing a chance match Chelsea on points at the top of the standings last weekend.

- Full credit to Aston Villa. Getting a point at Old Trafford is hard enough but to walk away with three says a lot about the way these players handle the pressure of a big game. First they walked into Anfield and beat Liverpool and now get the better of Manchester United.

- Speaking of clubs getting a result at Anfield we have Arsenal who must be on a high following a weekend that featured a big win and every big club around them dropping points. Andrey Arshavin seems to save something special for every Anfield visit. We all remember his four goal performance last year and his winner on Sunday was a shot no defender would of been able to block nor a goalie been able to save.

- Arshavin is also quite quotable with this little number last week. “Arsene Wenger needs to buy new players – and expensive ones too. Why? Because all the talented and inexpensive players are already with us at Arsenal.”

- Yeah I know it’s too easy but wonder how many Liverpool fans wished Xabi Alonso was on the field instead of watching from the stands yesterday?

- Watching Rafa Benitez and his Liverpool team reminds me a lot of the final days of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea where you know something toxic has spread through the club. One big difference mind you. Roman Abramovich was able to write Mourinho a big cheque to move on. This Liverpool ownership would have to bite the bullet real hard to do the same.

- Watching Ronaldo pause before taking a penalty kick annoys me. Watching Hugo Rodallega do it was no different. Rodallega cost his Wigan club three points in a highly entertaining game against Stoke.

- Maynor Figueroa take a bow. Wow is the only thing I have to say about that strike.

- Steve Simonsen for England. Five penalty saves in six chances is pretty darn impressive.

- Does West Ham fire Gianfranco Zola this week or wait til after Chelsea puts the final nail in his coffin. Hope I’m wrong but if Zola wasn’t just about the nicest man in football the press would of been calling for his head along time ago.

- I hate this Manchester City team. The main reason why is the fact this team annoys me to no end. I don’t know if it’s a good thing they seem to always fight back when down a goal but when in the lead they have consistently blow those leads all year.

- Does Joleon Lescott go to sleep thinking there is no way he is worth £22 million? He just seems timid out there and lacking in confidence. Late in the game Carlos Tevez whipped a cross into the middle and Lescott 10 feet from goal headed it over the bar. Pretty much sums up his season so far.

- When things are going well the bounces go your way, when they don’t they seem to go against you. This pretty much sums up Chelsea form recently. Bad break on the Cech own goal and Louis Saha scoring after Drogba tried to clear the ball off the back of his head.

- Harry Redknapp cancels the Tottenham Christmas party and Tottenham thanks their coach by laying an egg against Wolves. If you are not going to have a Christmas party make sure you tell the players during the summer. Not two weeks before.